16th Dec – Hue to Hoi An ( Asian person size bus!)
17th - 18th Hoi An. Beautiful little town on the central coast. Famous for its tailoring and Sally had her revenge for the DMZ tour inflicting a whole day of dress shopping.
19th - Hoi An – Nha Trang. Flight -lazy but saved a 12 hour bus ride and going on subsequent chats with others it was a good choice
20th Nha Trang
Hired a moped:
Po Nagar Cham Towers – ancient Hindu shrines built by the Cham Empire which was wiped out by the Vietnamese around 800 years ago
Long Son Pagoda & Seated Buddha - big concrete Buddha that took 2 years to set - yes it was interesting
Thap Ba Hot Springs – mud bath and mineral swimming pool – not good in the eyes
21st Nha Trang – Ho Chi Minh.
Flight nearly missed after a lack of attention to detail from me! Luckily the flight was delayed by 2 hours and we made it.
A few quiet drinks turned into a 4 am finish after meeting up with a Filipino cover band and too many mango daiquiris – there is a joke in there somewhere but my hangover the next day didn’t think it was funny at all.
22nd – War Remnants Museum. - Pretty strong stuff with some incredible photographs of the war and the side effects of the Agent Orange used by the US. Sally sat this one out under a fan with her head in hands having a head ache.
23rd – Ho Chi Minh – Phu Quoc.
Flight to Phu Quoc Island. Great bungalow on the beach – pretty much the perfect tropical island
24th – Galla dinner @ Mai House – Hotel was run by a French chap and it seems Christmas Eve is the big one with Europeans so we were treated to a fantastic BBQ feast with a French culinary twist.
25th – Traditional Christmas lunch with burger & pizza baguette.
Wonderful meal in the evening at a luxury hotel next door with our first bottle of wine for 3 months .
26th – Had to move house down the beach, hired a moped and explored the south of the island.
Pearl Farm – Live demos of Oyster harvesting
Coconut Prison – French kept Viet Minh and later the Saigon Government kept VC here in horrendous conditions
East Coast Beaches – Miles and miles of perfect empty white beaches – post card stuff
27th – Moped to see the North
Lots more beautiful beaches and some great potential future holiday destinations
28th – Days diving – 2 dives, some decent coral but bad visibility
Highly recommend Phu Quoc as a perfect desert island holiday. Do it quickly before the Russians and Chinese stick up their hotels and wreck the place
29th Phu Quoc to Cambodian border
Boat to Ha Tien, bus to border, crossed at Prek Chek and 4 hour bus to Sihnaoukville
Sihnoukville
Our first taste of corruption with a 5 USD 'fine' for going down an unmarked 1 way street
Sihnoukville is best left to your imagination and not a visit. Visualise- Russians, Benidorm, Garry Glitter and you wont be far off.
Tomorrow we are off to a little island about 2 hours off the coast to get some diving cracked and see in the new year. No internet and no phone signal so:
HAPPY NEW YEAR and here's to an exciting 2011!!
Man hugs from me and Sally kisses to you all
No comments:
Post a Comment